Police Probe Vandalism At High School

May 09, 1998|By LOUISE BEECHER; Courant Correspondent

DEEP RIVER — Police are investigating an incident of vandalism at Valley Regional High School this week in which 20 classroom doors were glued shut and all four tires on Principal Frank Baran's car flattened.

The attack has so outraged members of the Regional District 4 school board that they are considering offering a $500 reward for information leading to prosecution.

``The kids who did this need to be held accountable,'' said board Chairman Allen Graham, who added that the incident was ``a planned assault to try to disrupt the educational system.''

The vandals apparently used a glue gun Tuesday night to inject glue into the locks of 20 doors, damaging them beyond repair. The damage was discovered Wednesday morning, touching off a mad scramble to get the doors opened before the start of classes.

Assistant Principal Catherine Walker said that all but two of the doors were to classrooms that were to be used that day to administer a portion of the Connecticut Academic Mastery Tests, a series of state- mandated exams that measure how well students have learned a variety of subjects.

The vandals apparently hit the other two doors because they happened to be on their way out of the building, she said.

The doors were opened by a locksmith and school custodians. Baran said no classes had to be delayed, but that the last door was opened exactly three minutes before the mastery test scheduled to be administered there was set to begin.

The principal said he discovered that all four tires to his car were destroyed while returning from the early morning run he takes at the school daily before starting work.

Investigation showed that vandals had driven long nails into the pavement of the parking space reserved for the principal's car. The nails' heads were then cut off, leaving jagged points that punctured the tires.

District 4 Business Manager Steve Spires said the damage to the doors was estimated at between $5,500 and $6,500.

Although a majority of the board voted Thursday to offer the reward if it was legally possible for the school system to do so, the idea did not get unanimous support. Board members Ed Stebbins and Bruce Glowac voted against the measure, saying they thought the reward would mainly serve to generate negative publicity.